Wait and See: The Emotional Weight of Worry

The Cause

Wait and See: The Emotional Weight of Worry is a neighborhood-level community initiative focusing on child-centric workshops that playfully explore anxiety.

For some, the space between the present and future events can result in anxiety. Uncertainty can be difficult—filled with all kinds of what-ifs. The participants’ artistic investigation will dive into the underpinnings of worries. The child-centric project aims to engage the public by offering FREE Weight of Worry workshops to teach up to 360 elementary-aged participants (7 to 11 years) skills to navigate emotions effectively using a mindful, art-based practice.

The Weight of Worry workshop curriculum stands apart from the competition:

a) Child-centric -The psychoeducational learning is presented in a simple, developmentally appropriate format for participants to build an emotional wellness toolbelt.
b) Resiliency-building - Mindful strategies align with the cognitive developmental level of the participants.
c) Art-based - Visual art exploration, facilitated by a certified art therapist, will be the primary tool to investigate emotions intentionally.
d) Transportable - The topic-specific module introduces age-appropriate stress reduction techniques to support throughout life.
e) Experiential - The hands-on format incorporates a STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and math) component to ignite participants’ imagination.

The program will be offered in all four quadrants of Calgary, utilizing different Calgary Public Library branches as a workshop venue. The arts-centered project will offer two workshops/month for children to learn art-based coping tools to navigate emotions effectively using an art-based practice. The project plans to launch to the public with the first workshop in January 2024.
TOTAL: 24 workshop offerings X 15 participants/workshop = 360 participants.

The workshop facilitator, Christy Herdman, a compassionate, creative spirit (both problem solver and artist), fun-loving, kid-at-heart, certified art therapist, and sole proprietor of CRATE Art Therapy, will introduce art-based tools to enhance emotional well-being.

Wait and See: The Emotional Weight of Worry is one way CRATE aspires to raise the level of compassion by enhancing the emotional intelligence of the next generation through creative practice. The hope is to make it, CRATE.

Who Will it Benefit?

Wait and See: The Emotional Weight of Worry begins with the understanding that aggressive adult behavior stems from maladaptive emotional regulation strategies learned in childhood. Based on this insight, it is imperative to introduce early intervention strategies to enhance emotional intelligence. Art-based interventions and mindful awareness strategies are proven to help an individual build an adaptive emotional regulation response. The aim is to introduce this holistic, interdisciplinary program for elementary-aged children (7 to 11 years) to learn skills to navigate emotions effectively using a mindful, art-based practice.

The Weight of Worry workshops will benefit elementary-aged children (7 to 11 yr). By seven years old, participants have the brainpower to problem-solve, making them capable of investigating emotions and learning self-regulation skills.

The Weight of Worry Workshops will support participants in building emotional competency skills in the following areas:
- Self-awareness: Build mindfulness skills to understand their authentic self.
- Social Skills: Build stronger interpersonal skills by gaining insight into their sense of self.
- Emotional Regulation: Learn techniques to regulate their emotions that are vital to a child's healthy development.

Long-term impacts of taking the Weight of Worry workshops include:
- Fewer conduct problems.
- Less emotional distress.
- More prosocial behavior.

Through the introduction of an art-based practice, the objective is to improve emotional self-regulation that raises the level of compassion and reduces the number of bullies in the world.